‘The conversation became heated, after a close gay friend told her in a cab ride about a gay man who has AIDS and is knowingly having unprotected sex.

‘As she was being shown the website her comments were in reference to those sorts of people promoting themselves on the site.’

Stressing it was only a snippet of the conversation, the publicist said: ‘Paris Hilton is a huge supporter of the gay community and would never purposefully make any negative statements about anyone’s sexual orientation.’

Hilton is not the only celebrity to find themselves in hot water with the gay community this week.